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New capsule test helps Abu Dhabi doctors detect internal bleeding in minutes
The capsule is used in selected emergency and inpatient cases and, once swallowed, checks for blood in the stomach before wirelessly sending the results to an external receiver
- PUBLISHED: Tue 23 Jun 2026, 3:13 PM
A patient arrives at the hospital vomiting blood, passing black stools, feeling dizzy, or showing signs of low blood pressure. For emergency doctors, one question becomes urgent: is there internal bleeding, and does the patient need an invasive procedure now?
At Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, Abu Dhabi, doctors are now using a swallowable capsule to help answer that question within minutes.
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The capsule, called PillSense, is being used for selected emergency and inpatient cases where upper internal bleeding in the digestive organs is suspected. Once swallowed, it reaches the stomach, checks for the presence of blood, and sends the result wirelessly to a small external receiver.
Doctors can receive the result in under 10 minutes.
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Dr Mostafa Ahmed Shehata, Consultant, Gastroenterology at SSMC, said the device is mainly used when doctors suspect bleeding in the upper part of the digestive system and when the diagnosis initially is not immediately clear to the physician.
“It’s mainly for patients with suspected bleeding in the upper part of the digestive system — so, for example, someone who comes in vomiting blood, passing black stools, or feeling dizzy with low blood pressure,” he said. “In many of these cases, the diagnosis isn’t always clear at first, so having something that gives us a quick answer is very useful.”
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding refers to bleeding from the oesophagus, stomach, or the first part of the small intestine. It can range from mild to life-threatening, and patients may need urgent treatment if the bleeding is active or if their condition begins to worsen.
The traditional way to confirm and treat many cases is endoscopy, where doctors insert a flexible tube with a camera through the mouth to look inside the digestive tract. It remains a key tool, but it is invasive, requires specialist resources, and may not be immediately needed for every patient who arrives with worrying symptoms.
That is the gap PillSense is designed to help with.
The capsule uses light absorption technology to detect whether blood is present in the upper digestive tract. The result appears as a simple signal for clinicians: blood detected or no blood detected.
PillSense was developed by EnteraSense, an Ireland-based medical technology company, after years of research into whether a swallowed sensor could help doctors triage suspected bleeding faster. The system received the de novo 'new medical device' classification from the US Food and Drug Administration in 2023 as an ingestible gastrointestinal blood detection capsule.
A clinical trial published in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy found that the system could detect the presence of blood before upper GI endoscopy, with no device-related adverse events reported in the 126-patient study.
At SSMC, doctors say the benefit is speed.
“What has been very helpful with PillSense is that it gives us results within 10 minutes,” Dr Shehata said. “Normally, patients might wait hours for blood tests or an endoscopy. Now, we can reassure patients much earlier and make quicker decisions about whether they need urgent treatment or not.”
During SSMC’s pilot phase, clinicians found that invasive procedures were not immediately required in 86 per cent of assessed cases.
Dr Shehata said that, in practical terms, many patients either avoided urgent endoscopy altogether or had it safely delayed. “That’s important because it means we are not putting patients through unnecessary urgent procedures."
For emergency departments, the device can help doctors separate patients who may need urgent intervention from those who can be monitored, managed more conservatively, or safely discharged after a full assessment.
But doctors stress that the capsule does not replace clinical judgement.
“PillSense is not used on its own,” Dr Shehata said. “It’s an additional tool that supports our clinical judgement. We still rely on the patient’s symptoms, examination, and lab results, but this gives us an extra layer of information very quickly.”
Following the pilot phase, PillSense is now being used for selected emergency and inpatient cases at SSMC, with potential to expand its use more widely across Abu Dhabi in the future.
For patients, the change is that, in a frightening emergency, doctors may now have one more way to get a clearer answer faster, and that could soon exclude surgical procedures.
Ahmed Waqqas Alawlaqi is the youngest Special Correspondent, reporting from Abu Dhabi on youth, AI and innovation, and human-interest stories. His work brings exclusive perspectives from the Capital, highlighting voices that shape the UAE's future.